Better ask the way than go astray
by Cao dreams in books
Summary: Welcome to a world where some male heroes are females and where all members of the Justice League have different ethnic origins. But no matter how they look like, they all seek for the same goal: justice.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to this AU I could bring to life thanks to fyeahwonderbat on Tumblr and the event they hosted. All hail Wonderbat! ^^ I am two days late for the first day, I am deeply sorry. Anyway it was about the first meeting between Batman (which became here Batwoman) and Wonder Woman. So here we go!**

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In Greek mythology, 'Chaos' was the first state of the world, where everything was mixed and nothing was distinct from the other. Any element which composes our present world was in this chaos, but they were not put in order.

Absence of order without a point de repère: that was how Grecian people defined the beginning of the world.

What would this absence bring? Panic and fear, because humans would not know what to do. They would be lost in this chaos, which at these moments would not mean a beginning but an end.

A twilight of fire where any hope was lost.

It was how Safia would have defined the chaos that plagued her city, lost somewhere in Syria. Wherever she ran, she was greeted by death and destruction. Bombs from the coalition fell from the sky like a maleficent rain, bringing doom and sufferances. Buildings collapsed into thick clouds of dust, crushing whoever was hiding between their walls, a shelter which became a downfall. The inhabitants who have tried to run away from the city were met at the boundaries by the soldiers of the Islamic State and their bullets, forbidding anyone to escape the shelling. It was a game of death between two opponents and the civilians were nothing but bugs in the way.

Safia knew that they were trapped and knew that they couldn't hide and knew that sooner or later her legs would give up and yet she was still running, carrying her old mother who lamented and chanted unintelligible psalmodies to Allah. And then, despite the uproar which seemed to never end and the broken voice of her mother, Safia heard the loud whistle that she was too much used to, a sound of an apocalypse that meant only one thing.

A bomb was falling straight to them.

She kept running even with laboured breathing and tears into her eyes. She kept running because she could not accept this fate.

 _She did not want to die._

The threatening whistle was coming closer and closer, and with that, her body gave up. She fell onto the hard ground while a strangled cry escaped her lips. Her mother clung to her, a warm embrace before the end.

But it never came.

Even if the city was still roaring under the chaos, the two women could clearly notice that the whistle had brutally stopped. Confused, they opened their eyes after a second of hesitation.

The sky was clear.

Then a massive figure gracefully landed before them.

"Are you alright?"

It was a woman with short black hair and golden brown skin. She was wearing a heavy armour and a shield and a blade in each hand. She spoke in fluent Arabic with a concerned and kind tone that comforted the still shocked women. She helped them to get onto their feet. Safia's legs were wobbling but she managed to stand without falling.

"You have to quickly get out of here," the woman said while she shook the dust off their clothes. "I have managed to chase away the jihadists around the city, but it is only a matter of time before reinforcements arrive. Are you able to walk on your own to the south of the town?"

"Y-yes," Safia choked out with surprise. "But how did you…"

"Go. Now," the woman ordered in a firm tone, making it clear that there was no time to discuss.

In one jump she was floating into the sky and disappeared from the women's sight.

"امراة رائعة…"

That was what her mother mumbled in awe while Safia started heading in the direction the strange woman designated. Along the path more people joined them: they too had met this strange person and had been asked to get out of the city. One said she had lifted the rubble they were trapped under with her own arms as if it was a pile of feathers. Another told she had punched the jihadists that threatened them with ease and without any injury then tore the assailants' car apart. Other people shared their meeting, the first time they saw this woman, with a tone that made it sound like an incredible tale.

No one attacked the group during their march as they were more and more numerous. The path was clear and no bomb greeted them. Still, they could hear them exploding not so far, making them too scared to even stop for a second. All of them wanted to escape from this hell as fast as possible.

Finally, they reached the end of the town. The woman was there, sitting on the roof of a massive truck among other vehicles.

"Listen carefully!" she shouted in a deep voice, earning the attention of everyone. "I took as many vehicles as possible. There are enough trucks to drive you all to the peacekeeping force which is close enough and will give you protection and supplies. But I cannot do it alone. Are there people here able to drive?"

A few hands raised from the crowd.

"Good! Then proceed. I will protect you from any attack, but I need you to act with calm and respect towards each other. We must stay united or else it shall be our doom. Understood?"

Everyone acknowledged before beginning to split and climb into the trucks under the supervision of the odd knight.

O*O*O*O*O*O

Diana hoped that would be enough as the vehicles were soon overcrowded. She knew that she could not save everyone, but she was ready to do anything to help those people, harassed between the conflicts of powerful foes that did not care about their fate. But she cared about them, about their lives. And she did not have to pick a side to save them. Well, she had one: her own.

Soon everybody was ready and Diana gave the signal of departure. The trucks began to drive, Diana floating around them with vigilant eyes. For one moment the trip was peaceful.

Unfortunately, it did not last. Diana could hear the roar of engines in the distance. She had to act quickly: if the trucks were surrounded by the assailants, she could not protect them all at once.

She scanned her surroundings. She gave attention to each detail until she knew how many were coming. Seven light vehicles and three armoured ones. It was a lot for only some citizens, but she was not naive: they were coming for her.

She told the drivers to continue at all cost. She appeased them that she was not abandoning them, that they had to trust her. Then she flew away with hundreds of persons staring at her back.

She carried their hopes. She was going to do more than her best to keep them safe and sound.

First, she had to take care of the heaviest and thus most harmful vehicles. When they came into view, she let herself fall and violently crashed onto the first one which burst into crimson flames. The other vehicles began to fire and she rolled on the sand, dodging the bullets in a mortal dance. Someone shouted something in Arabic and threw a grenade. In one swift motion, she sent it back at its owner, and the sand almost melted under the intense heat of the explosion.

More yelling, more bullets.

Diana beat her wristbands and the blast wave knocked down two other vehicles. She rushed towards the next one and grabbed it until metal folded under her fingers. Lifting the vehicle with ease, she threw it onto the last armoured one.

The characteristic click of a Tommy gun echoed behind her. Her shield was raised just in time to block a great burst of fire. Gritting her teeth, she held against the pressure – how long she did not know – before flinging her blade. It sank into the shooter body with such violence it tossed him out of the vehicle. Diana took advantage of the break it allowed her to rip the wheels of the car.

Then she realized that the three last ones were not here anymore.

"NO !" she screamed with dread when she saw them heading to the trucks.

She rushed to the vehicles, she tried to fly as fast as possible.

And the gunshots filled the desert air.

O*O*O*O*O*O

Safia heard these sounds of death like everyone else and the people around her started panicking and moving everywhere and screeching. Then the truck began to get out of control. Between all the cries she heard that the driver had been shot down. She froze for a second, understanding that they were now helpless.

Later, she could not explain why she did what she did next.

She avoided the limbs that spasmed in shock and the people that tried to cling to her in despair. She got out at the end of the truck. One deep breath. Then she started to climb on the roof. Wind slashed her face while she tried not to slip despite her sweaty palms. The terrorists on the right side of the truck could not harm the civilians because of the reinforced walls, but the driver seat was more vulnerable and Safia was even more vulnerable. A bullet hissed and skimmed her hair. She made herself as tiny as possible and continued her progress.

Finally, she reached the front end of the truck and entered it on its left side. She crawled on the seat, her heart racing fast against the fabric. Taking the wheel while staying down, she stabilized the vehicle until it was going straight.

A wavering sigh escaped her lips. It was one less thing to worry about.

Then her throat made a hoarse yelp when the butt of a gun smashed against the glass of the right window. The car door was violently pulled and a man with a black hood got inside then pointed his weapon at her.

Her tears had run dry. She could not cry anymore in front of the reaper.

But he was not going to take her now. Powerful shots took down the car of the assailant which distracted him from harming Safia. Then both of them heard a thud on the roof. Before the man could do anything a dark glove coming from the broken door grabbed him by the collar and brutally tossed him out of the truck. His screams died far away on the sand while the glove and what came next sat beside Safia.

It was tall figure covered in black. It looked like a living shadow with nothing human except for the entirely white eyes that seemed to stare at her.

"Are you hurt?" a deep voice asked, so frightening that one could think it belonged to the Devil itself.

It took a moment for Safia to recollect herself and shake her head. Looking away from the strange being, she tried to secure her catch on the wheel but her trembling hands made the task difficult if not impossible. She startled when a gloved hand took the wheel with a steady gentleness that contrasted with the earlier violence.

"Take a rest. I will drive until all of you arrive safely."

She did not dare to object to anything. She sat as far as possible from this… person and wondered in silence where did this scary… saviour come from.

O*O*O*O*O*O

One could tell and it was Diana. She had arrived too late to stop the gunshots. Thankfully the civilians were not hurt except the driver of one of the trucks. She started panicking when the vehicle began to drift, but before she could reach for it she was stopped by an intense gunfire. Two vehicles had encircled her and prevented her from rescuing anyone. She could not think straight when she tried to survive as fear tightened her throat. They were going to die and she could not do anything!

Then _something_ materialised into the sky. Something that looked like a black plane which shot down one of the cars, allowing Diana to act again. While she was taking care of the penultimate car, the plane had put away the last one before ejecting something that landed on the damaged truck which stabilized some seconds later.

Relieved that the attack was now over and that almost everyone was safe, Diana was however intrigued by whoever had helped her. She flew straight to the vehicle and was surprised to meet a blank stare.

"Who… are you?" she asked in English, not sure of the provenance of this strange person.

"An ally," the black figure answered in Arabic with an accent, a clue that they were not from this area.

Diana could not help but lightly shiver by hearing this voice that did not sound human.

"We shall talk later," the foreigner spoke again. "We must take care of these people for now. Then we'll talk."

The Amazon simply nodded. She hoped that the rest of the trip would be without any other incident.

O*O*O*O*O*O

The stillness of the trip lasted indeed. The civilians were now under the protection of the Blue Berets and some NGOs. All of them thanked the incredible woman many and many times, voicing a deep gratitude towards her with acclaims and light touches. Some UN officers glared at her with furrowed brows. After all, she had destroyed several bomber aircraft of the coalition, which of course did not make the U.S. very happy. But they kept their concerns under silence since she was seen as a savior, a hero.

Safia too was congratulated for bringing her fellow citizens to safety. Her act made her brave in the eyes of everyone in the truck. But she was not entirely proud of it. She had gotten assistance and no one knew it. The one who helped her had disappeared before they entered the UN camp, so nobody saw them.

When the woman of wonder decided it was time to leave, Safia touched her shoulders with shyness, still intimidated by her powerful aura.

"If you see the… shadow being again, can you tell them that I thank them very, very much?"

A warm smile spread across Diana's lips.

"I will. Take care of yourself, young one."

O*O*O*O*O

How long she flew, she did not know. But a long time had passed for sure when she finally landed beside the black plane.

"Why do you want to talk here? What is so important that you are afraid of unwelcomed ears?" she asked with a bit tired and irritated tone as the figure got out and stood before her.

"I do not think," they spoke in Greek, "you want someone to discover your true nature, Amazon."

Diana stared at them with wide eyes before folding her arms in front of her chest.

"What are you talking about?" she tempted with a firm voice, not willing to give any clue to this stranger.

"Maybe this will be clearer: Hippolyta greets you and hopes you are alright, little lioness."

Diana froze, mouth agape. 'Little lioness' was the nickname her mother gave her when she was a child.

"How… Are… Are you a messenger sent by mother?"

"No, I am not. Your mother simply asked me to tell you this if we ever crossed paths."

Before Diana could respond to anything, the shadow being explained themselves.

Some years ago, while they were wandering around the world, they were shipwrecked and they grounded on Themyscira. Her fellow Amazons rescued them and took care of them. They spent some time with the warriors before coming back to Man's world. When they were about to leave, they learnt that an Amazon, the princess Diana, was already in their world, willing to protect it. With the benediction of Hippolyta, they decided to meet her and make an offer.

"Which is?" Diana asked with a voice that was a little more intrigued than she would have wanted to.

"The world is facing threats that only one individual isn't able to resolve alone. Divided we are weak, but together we may rise and promise a better future."

"Who is this 'we'?"

"All the people who wish to make the world safe, or at least less decayed. Some of them are superhumans like you."

Diana detected the undertone in their sentence.

"But you aren't, are you?"

The figure shook their head then their hands reached for it.

"Your people told me your story. I know who you are, princess Diana of Themyscira, or at least a part of your life. You, on the other hand, don't."

Something hissed.

"A name for a name, a title for a title."

The voice was now human, smooth and clear. They took off the mask that covered their face. The wind swirled dark thick locks and caressed a porcelain skin. Asian eyes blinked, so black that the pupil was not discernible from the iris.

"Greetings, princess. My name is Lily Wayne. But the people of Gotham, my city, call me Batwoman."

Diana's eyes shined. The aura of the woman in front of her was something she had never seen before. Full of darkness, of mystery, with a strength and a willpower that seemed ready to silently engulf the world around her.

A true vigilante that definitely had caught her interest.

"Before you tell me more, Batwoman, I too have a message for you: the one you rescued, Safia, thanks you very, very much."

She raised an eyebrow then nodded in acknowledgment.

The two women made themselves comfortable. It was going to be a night full of talks before coming to an agreement and a better trust or at least better knowledge of each other.

But Diana did not mind at all.

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 **Reviews are veeeeery welcomed ^^**

 **Also yes Bruce/Lily has Asian origins, she was adopted by the Waynes when she was a baby (I will develop this later). And Diana has darker skin because I like it that way. Rationality? What's this? x)**

 **See you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Another chapter I wrote with the prompt "friends/teammates" from fyeahwonderbat event on Tumblr. I know I am super late, sorry. Anyway, I had fun exploring the relationship between Lily and Diana. Hope you will like this chapter!**

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In Northern Eastern Asia, people share a strong bond with the moon. Their life is rhythmed by its cycles: agriculture is linked to the variations of the heavenly body as well as weeks, months and years.

A pale and majestic hourglass which brings guidance and silver lining into the darkness.

And yet, even if it shined in the celestial dome, giving to the night a peaceful atmosphere, it did not bring any help, any clue to Diana about how to resolve this situation.

Thick silence filled the hideout where she and other heroes were resting. Ares, god of war and sworn enemy of the princess, had had the wonderful and oh so original idea of initiating a carnage somewhere in Ukraine. The Amazon and her teammates had to stop the heavily armed belligerents who had gone crazy because of Ares' influence, before facing the deity himself. He was stronger thanks to the violence he had created and thus more difficult to strike down. The members of the Justice League had put their lives in danger in order to end the cruel god. Now they were healing wounds, some more damaged than others, and most of all, they were exhausted.

Thanks to her Amazon nature, Diana had recovered quickly. But the deep cut on her left thigh, where Ares had violently sunk his blade, wasn't closed yet. It had damaged the artery, and she still felt dizzy because of the great blood loss. Thankfully Batwoman had acted fast by putting a compress which stopped the hemorrhage and prevented the worst.

Thinking of the bat on the battlefield, the woman had led the assault against Ares as a mastermind strategist. While some other heroes wanted to rush without thinking, she had carefully studied Ares and his postures and his movements and the ways he attacked. With all this information she had set up a plan in no time to use the strengths of her partners where they could strike at their best and thus defeat the god.

A long time ago (she could not remember when), Diana read a story about two men of great mind, Scipio the African and Hannibal, two generals that rose "ad astra per aspera" thanks to their uncommon tactics. There were similarities between their way of thinking and Lily's. At least that was Diana's impression.

But even clever people needed to rest and could be tired or broken. Since the end of the battle Lily had isolated herself from everybody, not speaking at all if not barely nodding to the members of the Justice League when they congratulated her about the victory. She avoided people's gaze during the trip to the hideout lost somewhere between cliffs and hills. She had refused to let anyone check her health. She had been surrounded by a gloomy aura that had clearly indicated that she wanted to stay alone.

Nobody could tell Lily's state since not a single inch of her skin was uncovered, so it was a bit difficult to have a clue about her feelings and if she was injured or not. The only one who could know was Superman thanks to his X-rays vision, but each time he used it, Lily would get extremely pissed off.

Speaking of Clark, the black man with long, curly, almost fuzzy hair that mocked gravity's laws was knocking on Diana's door. Despite the late hour, she invited him to come in.

"How are you, princess?" he asked with a polite tone when he entered.

She sighed with a half amused half annoyed smile. As much as she appreciated Superman, he displayed a courtesy towards his teammates that made Diana a bit uncomfortable. It was however pointless to ask him to do otherwise because it would be only a matter of time before he would call her 'princess' again.

"It still aches a bit, but apart from that I am fine, Clark."

He nodded with a "good" then dropped onto the seat next to her bed. He rubbed his bruised hand on his forehead, his shoulders heavy from strain.

"I don't know how you managed to survive against this creep for so long but you deserve a medal for that."

"Should I worry that the Man of Steel isn't invulnerable?" Diana pointed, concerned.

"Ah, sorry, sorry princess, I didn't mean to alarm you. It's just you don't fight against a _god_ every day. But indeed I feel tiredness like every living being. I just have faster recovering and most of all I am very good at hiding my damaged side from the medias."

Diana couldn't figure out if his tone was supposed to be ironic.

"Anyway I am not here to ramble but to ask for your help. Lily is clearly not feeling good but she refuses to tell me anything – I decided not to scan her or else she would have beaten me with kryptonite. The others have tried as well and she kicked them out of her room. I don't know what's going on but it's clearly bad for sure. Please, princess, can you go talk to her? She seems to trust you more than anyone else."

Diana's lips formed a thin line. She was not sure she would put 'trust' into their relationship. The two women knew each other for several months, and yes Lily did speak to her more than with the other vigilantes. But the Asian-American had always put some distance between herself and Diana, if not everybody. She never revealed too much about her own life. She was an expert at avoiding personal questions or giving very short and absolutely not elaborated answers. Of course she voiced her opinion about different situations with Diana, sometimes they debated and argued – thinking of it, Lily seemed to give matter to everyone's point of view, not only Diana's. So she was not really giving her a special treatment.

In fact, it was difficult for Wonder Woman to define her relationship with the Batwoman, a person that would cloister herself in her silence at any moment.

And yet there she was, standing in front of Lily's room, unknowing about what to do which made her feel awkward. The moonshine could not go through the walls that surrounded the Amazon and so could not guide her. She gave a few light knocks on the door, calling the Bat's name.

There was no response.

Worry tightened her chest then increased when only silence greeted her the third time she knocked.

"Lily? Lily, listen, if you're here I'm coming in, okay?"

Why did she have a lump in her throat? That was ridiculous, maybe Batwoman was just sleeping.

The bed, however, was empty.

She scanned the room, but there was nothing except a first aid kid ripped open on the floor, its content messily spread on the carpet. Then she heard the sound of water running and headed towards the bathroom.

She should have announced herself before stepping in.

The crude neon light reflected on the skin of the naked body kneeling in front of the bathtub and covered by numerous bruises and ugly scars, shining with sweat. The one feared as Batwoman had her hands immersed into the bloody water, scrubbing her uniform with such force she could tear it if she went a little too far. She was mumbling something unintelligible to Diana.

Her presence put an end to this puzzling scene. Lily brutally turned her head towards the Amazon.

The way she stared at her made the warrior's spine shiver. While her face wore a blank expression, her eyes told a million words Diana could not understand, if not that they were menacing.

A tensed silence filled the space between the two women, until two words left Lily's mouth, with a voice way more menacing than when it was modulated by her mask:

"Get. Out."

Her heart beating so fast it was going to jump out of her ribcage, Diana took several steps backwards until the door was closed. The hand not letting go of the knob, her forehead was pressed against the wood and only her deep breathing punctuated the following minutes.

 _What the hell just happened?_

She had the bleak feeling she had seen something she should not have seen, but she could not tell the reason. It was unsettling and she did not know why.

"Princess, you're blocking the door."

The calm voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She sputtered a "sorry" and got out of the way, allowing the other woman to stand before her. A towel was wrapped around her breast and waist. A cold, unreadable stare met Diana's eyes.

"Lily," she managed to say after swallowing, "I'm sorry I–"

"Stop. You're not the one to blame. I should have locked the door."

Her sharp tone was not very reassuring. Diana clenched and unclenched her fists to recollect her composure then looked Lily in the eyes.

"Can we talk about this?"

"Why should we?" countered Lily with an annoyed voice.

"Wha– For Hera's sake, Batwoman, we are _teammates_! It's a priority when you're in a group to make sure that your partners are alright and listen to their problems if they have one!"

"And does that imply you think it is my case?"

"Well excuse me if it felt like I broke a taboo when I came in, which really bothers me."

At least the sentence had enough effect to make Lily's eyebrows rise in surprise.

"It wasn't… You haven't…" Then she sighed. "There was no taboo Diana I was just washing my clothes. But you showed up at a moment when I wasn't at the best state of my mind. Moreover, you saw me naked. And I can't bear people invading my privacy."

Lily began to walk away as she finished talking, but Diana extended an arm, not allowing her to flee so easily.

"I can understand the last part. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable and I'm sorry for that. But you still owe me an explanation. If you weren't at the best state of your mind you should be resting, not washing your costume in the middle of the night. You haven't talked to anyone since Ares was defeated, you've refused to be seen nor examined and now I find you like this."

All the while Diana spoke Lily remained still, her lips pressed in a thin line as if she wanted to say something but refused to let the words leave her throat, burying them deep into her body.

"Lily, please. Tell me what's going on. I won't reveal anything to the others if you don't want to but please… Don't keep what's bothering you bottled up."

The Batwoman's eyes weren't looking at Wonder Woman anymore. They were closed, her face neutral, not giving any clue about how was she processing Diana's speech, if she was even considering them.

They opened at the same time her lips did, lifeless.

"It won't fade away."

Diana frowned as confusion spread across her face.

"What?"

Lily looked away, teeth gritted and fists clenched.

"The blood. Your blood. It won't fade away. When I healed you the red stained the black and _it won't go_. It won't go, won't go, a taint that I can't get rid of and it drives me crazy because it reminds me I _failed_ you. I swore I would protect everyone and I miserably _failed_ when your blood spurted out, it spurted out like it did years ago from my parents' body, I watched them die on the concrete, unable to do anything and then you were there, injured on the battlefield and I could only watch as Ares cut your skin with morbid ease, it happened once again, blood was spilled it happened once again and I couldn't prevent it, the same pattern repeated over and over with lines of blood I can't wash away because I am a pathetic little–"

"Lily."

The firm voice snatched her from the dark thoughts she was thrown into, allowing her to regain consciousness of her surroundings. Diana had gently grabbed her shoulders, the Amazon's gaze looking for her own.

"Lily," she said softly. "Look at me."

After a moment of hesitation, the woman from Gotham slowly turned her face to meet the eyes of the woman of wonder.

"Do I look dead or in mortal danger?"

Lily didn't answer but her breath lightly quickened. It was so subtle Diana would not have noticed it if she was not so close to the other woman.

"Lily," she insisted.

"No," the Batwoman finally admitted. "No, you don't."

Wonder Woman's right hand let go of Lily's shoulder to delicately rest on her cheek. Her thumb caressed the skin with a tenderness Lily noticed, but didn't reject.

"I am here," Diana voice rose again. "I am alive, Lily. And this is thanks to you because you quickly acted to heal me and stop the bleeding: my blood isn't spilled anymore. Yes I am wounded but putting yourself in danger is part of the risks when you decide to protect the world. Stop blaming yourself, because you're the one who made Ares' defeat possible and kept me alive. And I deeply thank you for that."

Lily could not remember the last time someone showed gratitude towards her. And she even less expected this from a semi-goddess. She remained motionless and silent, confused while she was processing the Amazon's words.

Then she did something that surprised both her and Diana.

She smiled.

It was timid and tiny, but it was here. All the tension Diana had seen earlier had now faded away. Of course Lily's body (and her own) was still sore from exhaustion, but at least it was at peace.

After a quiet moment, Diana's hands left Lily's body with slow and gentle movements, then let them drop at her sides. As she did so she couldn't help but slightly feel regretful. She internally frowned, not seeing what she was supposed to regret.

Batwoman cleared her throat, gaining Wonder Woman's attention.

"I, um, should go to sleep."

Diana's lips made a little "oh" of understanding. It was time to leave and she could feel her body begging for a long rest too.

Her hand was on the knob when Lily spoke again.

"Diana?"

Even if the Batwoman's face was still neutral, her eyes were no longer empty. They had this light that people wore when they were free from the agony that consumed them before.

"Thank you."

Diana's smile was so bright she could swear it illuminated the room.

"You're welcome. And remember, if you're ever feeling down, don't hesitate to talk to someone. Not only me but everybody in here. We're a group now, and we have to care for each other."

Lily said nothing but nodded, a sign that she would consider it. With a little wave Diana wished her a good night before leaving the Batwoman alone.

Then there was silence, only peaceful silence.

Only Superman could hear the mysterious words whispered by a half-asleep human:

"Maybe someday, I will knock on heaven's door… Maybe someday."

* * *

 **Don't forget to comment! I will give more spotlight on the others heroes next time.**

 **See you!**


	3. Chapter 3

***Luigi's voice* I am BAAAAACK! I swear to god school is killing me but I have finally managed to finish and translate this chapter! I don't have much to tell, except that I really loved writing it :) My studies are taking a lot of my time so the next upload will not probably come very early (let's say it'll be slow and it's an euphemism), sorry. But I hope you will like this chapter! With more heroes coming, the story takes place before the last one.**  
 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Did you see them?_

 _No, I didn't because my family and I have been hiding in the cellar, hoping those things wouldn't find us._

 _They bursted out of nowhere, damn it…_

 _Screams, people running everywhere, something sounding like dreadful roars, I didn't understand what was going on and yet the moment after I was fleeing, carrying my son…_

 _These creatures attacked the civilians and within a few seconds all hell broke loose._

 _Panic ruled._

 _The monster exploded the door as if cutting through butter._

 _We were driving and then suddenly something hurtled towards us like a rhino, Mommy had yelled and twisted the wheel but it still rammed into us, thankfully Mommy always told me to buckle my seat belt or else I would have flied, I didn't fly but everything spun and it hurt so much… And then I saw it, the monster, leaning above the shattered glass._

 _The most terrifying part was their eyeless face, they just had two gaping pits. With their huge nostrils they sniffled the air around, following our tracks, like one of them. I was hiding behind the counter of my bar and it found me almost immediately. And it might sound crazy but I swear it was staring at me with its holes, as if I was going to be sucked into them… I had the jitters of my life._

 _I was running and running, I didn't know where to go, I just wanted to run away from all the howling and I was, not knowing where to. Then someone brutally pulled my arm, an old lady, she had led me into an alley and it's a good thing she did so because at the corner of the other street, there was a monster coming by, without this woman I would have ended in its fangs. But then… it found us when we were trying to escape._

 _I was watching this thing, this… chimaera holding my sister's arm between their jaws, my sister was crying for help but I was paralyzed, I wasn't able to move, I was watching all this red flowing and I was still frozen, my sister kept screaming, pain filling her voice, screaming while it began to rip her arm off, screaming that she didn't want to die, didn't want to die…_

 _And then –_

 _Boom._

 _Exactly_

 _Fallen from the sky._

 _He crashed onto the monster like a meteor._

 _To be honest I didn't like black people before. But this one, as I was going to be eaten up, he showed up and bye bye critter. He helped me to get on my feet and escorted me to a safe zone. I swear to you I've never seen a guy so polite and comforting, not even among white people._

 _You're going to find it stupid but… as he was kneeling to ask me if I was alright, the only thing I thought was that he had really pretty eyes. A deep blue like the ocean. Very beautiful, on a man stunning like the sun._

 _And the others?_

 _What do you mean?_

 _I didn't see a sun but a being rising from the shadows._

 _Ah it happened to you too?_

 _Trapped in the alley I thought it was the end for us. The old woman stood between the monster and I, she was going to be eaten up, she told me it didn't matter, she was old, the monster would be busy with her so I could flee, of course I wanted to live but for god's sake I wasn't able to watch someone die by my fault… And then we heard a voice, sounding like a demon's, guttural and deep, and this… thing comes out of nowhere, as dark as the night, it jumps onto the monster's back, which starts snorting and jumping everywhere but the other doesn't let go, before sinking something in the monster's neck and it drops dead._

 _I asked the shadow being if they were a jinn, a minion of the Devil, or an angel sent by Allah. They didn't respond, but led us, the young man and I, to a shelter where we would be safe until the situation was settled. It's enough of an answer for me._

 _A jinn? Seriously, what next! It was a guy in green, a normal human who helped me. I dunno if you heard about him, he's from Starlight City, a bowman… I must admit I laughed the first time I heard of him, a bowman, a modern Robin Hood, it sounded ridiculous… Surely I wasn't snickering anymore behind my counter, I thought I was gonna croak and then fsh ! Arrows fall upon the beast, some of them blow up, the thing brutally contorts until it doesn't move anymore… I stand up from behind the counter and I see this guy taking care of the customers, checking their health, giving some bandages and painkillers… He has stayed with us until everything was steady. Oh, it was a woman? I didn't notice…_

 _The sun, the night, the bowman, I didn't see any of it. It's a lioness who stopped the flowing red. She knocked in the monster, her blade slaughtered it while her battle cry woke me up. I ran to my sister's side, her arm was shredded but still intact. The lioness showed me how to make a pad with a piece of fabric, thanks to her advice I stopped the bleeding… Without her my sister would be dead, and I am deeply grateful for that. That's why I cut my hair short like her, like this wonderful woman's._

 _The monster was going to eat me, Mommy was crying, the monster had his mouth wide open and then he became green. Right after he wasn't here anymore, gone, then I flied, I really flied, I was green like the monster and the green gently pulled me out of the car, it did the same for Mommy next. A miss was standing in front of us, made of emerald green. She looked like Moana. Moana took us to a place where the beasts wouldn't find us. Green Moana came, a princess saved me._

 _It was… strange, to put it simply. The second before I was running and the next moment I felt two strong arms gently pulling me up, and then we cut across the city at lightning speed. When my feet made contact with the ground again, I could just catch the glimpse of a bright smile, then he left before coming back almost immediately, carrying another person._

 _More and more people were coming._

 _Then… Nothing._

 _For a moment it was just… quietness._

 _I could have believed that none of this happened, if there weren't wounded people around me._

 _Silence._

 _As if time had been put on hold._

 _From time to time, the one running fast dropped by, checking if we were alright._

 _Of course we were still anxious, we feared the monsters might show up again, but at the same time…_

 _There was this feeling that… the storm was going to end._

 _One hour, or one minute which elapsed?_

 _Then the sirens._

 _Support had arrived._

 _One by one, we got out, we organized groups for the first aids, those who were in worst shape were taken care of first, blankets and bottles of water were dispensed… All of this quickly and calmly._

 _I was exhausted. Exhausted but relieved. Who wouldn't be? I am still alive._

 _Sometimes I was able to spot these… persons who came to rescue, and they were still acting so, they moved into the crowd, gave a hand to the medics, soothed panicked people…_

 _The bowman was looking out for us, like a watchman._

 _The lioness came to see me while my sister was taken to the hospital, she put her hand on my shoulder and her stare told more encouraging things than a voice could do._

 _Sometimes we could see the lightning passing by._

 _I didn't see the lightning again, nor the sun nor the emerald nor the shadow people were talking about. I noticed the others from far away but I wasn't able to greet them._

 _I just wish I could tell them…_

 _If they can hear us…_

 _Thank you._

O*O*O*O*O*O

Night had fallen. A few stars were timidly shining between the ink-coloured clouds.

Lost in the middle of a deep forest, a cliff rose her sharp profile in the dark sky. No one could have guessed that, in one of the cavities crafted by centuries of erosion, a group of uncommon people were resting. After the attack of the chimaeras, or rather genetic mutations as they had found out not so long after their arrival, this hideout in the middle of nowhere gave a more than welcome asylum to them. Even if most of them weren't similar to 'normal' humans, they were still living beings, with their limits. Here, at least, they were allowed to catch their breath.

"If I keep lying down for another second, I will go crazy!"

Even if someone still had enough breath to whine.

"Lantern, stop wriggling, will you? You have a sprained ankle, you should better not aggravate your injury."

The woman in question grumbled something unintelligible and rolled onto her side in order to face Green Arrow, sitting on the bed next to hers.

"Well excuse me if I am fed up of laying here and doing nothing. I'm _bored_."

An emphatic smile spread on the bowman's face, like a mother's would do when watching their child pouting.

"I am bored too. But we can't do anything in such state, except staying still. Moreover, if you continue fussing your wound will worsen and you will have to stay here longer."

Before Green Lantern could reply anything, Arrow suddenly raised her index, meaning she had got an idea.

"In order to occupy ourselves, I can braid your hair if you want to."

Her counterpart arched a doubtful eyebrow. The bowman simply patted the mattress, an invitation to come next to her.

"At least it will give you some distraction. What do you do when you're bored?"

"…Why do you want to know?"

"Hey, we are teammates now, we should get to know each other. After all, managing to survive a bunch of monstrosities is not really a proper introduction. And the meeting some weeks ago was mostly professional."

"Ah, that explains why I fell asleep at some point – I'm kidding!" she added with a snicker when Green Arrow shot her an outraged look. "You really think I would take a nap when I was meeting Superman for the first time?"

"Speaking of Superman… Even the Man of Steel has been injured by these creatures."

Lantern's smile dropped.

"No need to remind me. Today – _sigh_ – today was an exhausting day, wasn't it? We team up for the first time and that's a bit… harsh. Business risks when you're a hero, nothing new here."

A short but heavy silence. Then Green Lantern rose and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What kind of hairstyle can you do?"

Green Arrow's face brightened.

"Almost everything," she cheerfully answered, "but I really enjoy making braided pigtails."

Her excited behaviour made the other woman grin. Hopping quickly, she joined the bowman and settled on the bed in such a way that her partner could comfortably work without worsening her cracked rib. She immediately got to work, her callous but careful fingers gently sliding between the dark and thick locks.

"You're doing well," noted Lantern.

"Thank you. I learnt from my tribe's elders, they were very kind and patient with me. My mother was very happy when I began braiding her hair. This activity brought me closer to my maternal family, which I'm glad."

Green Arrow, her real name being Holly Poloma Queen, was born from the union between Robert Queen, a businessman from Starlight City, and Nashoba Cole, a descendent from a Choctaw tribe. Whoever had heard of the billionaire could easily know (and it included the members of the Justice League) that she had spent the major part of her youth in Starlight City, then joined her mother in the Southeastern Oklahoma after her adolescence. But no one knew the reason why she became Green Arrow. Truth to be told, who could pretend to know what pushed the others to be vigilantes? What made them the way they were now, they didn't tell. Not yet. The Justice League had just been founded and no one really knew how to behave with each other. They could be seen as fellow office clerks that had just been hired at the same time and were trying to get used to each other. They had trained together and the attack of the genetic mutations had given them the possibility to test together their aptitudes in the field, a bit violently to be honest. But thanks to this experience they had learnt what were their strengths and weaknesses in a teamwork. Because they had wisely and calmly communicated, they were able to help more people than if they had been alone. And now that they had fought together, faced difficulties together, some sort of invisible barrier had been shattered and the pieces blown away.

So Green Lantern, alias Erena Jordan from Mo'orea, was quite touched and happy that Queen had decided to take the first step by telling a bit of her own story.

"Was your mother good at hairdressing?"

"Absolutely not!" Poloma guffawed. "She sucked at this, that's why she had been so pleased when I decided to groom her hair. She is better at hunting – she is gifted. During contests she beats everyone at the blowgun. You would see her coming forward, nobly yet humbly, then she inhales and you never catch a glimpse of the dart being blown away, you just hear the sound of air and then the dart has already hit the center of the target. I was so impressed by her skills!"

"Is she the one who motivated you to practice the bow?"

Poloma nodded with a bright smile.

"I wanted to do like her. But above all it was a good way to spend time together, to share a passion. I didn't see her a lot when I was a child… So yeah, we hunted together a lot, and that's how I discovered that I love to use the bow. Mom told me that maybe I was predestined."

"How so?"

"Poloma means 'bow' in the Choctaw language."

Erena bursted out laughing.

"Okay that's just perfect! Was your mother a medium or something?"

Poloma pretended to be offended and poked the back of Erena's head.

"Don't make fun of my name!" she exclaimed with a tone that failed to be serious. "It's a shaman who advised my mother when she was searching for a name. What does yours mean?"

"It's the polynesian version of Helena, which means 'brightness of the sun', or 'warmth'."

A third voice filled the room.

"Isn't it Greek?"

The two women brutally turned their head. Superman was standing next to them, holding a steaming mug in each hand. As silent as a cat, he had come to their side without being noticed. He wasn't wearing his costume anymore, but a slightly oversized grey sweater, with a deep blue sirwal covering his legs. He greeted them with a nod and seemed a bit awkward.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Of course not, but I will forgive you," Erena replied with a smirk, "if these mugs are actually for us."

The blue-eyed black winked and held out the vessels.

"Rooibos mixed with yogi. I thought it would help you relax."

Erena grabbed the mug with an "Oh thank you so much!" powerful enough to resonate within the room. Poloma, however, couldn't help but feel self-conscious.

"That's very nice of you Superman, but what about you? You didn't prepared tea for yourself too."

He made no response. Instead he gestured at the bedside table, where a teapot was sitting, while some seconds ago the surface was still bare. Poloma shot him an amazed look.

"Make a third mug appear out of thin air and I swear I'll nominate you for best magician ever."

He scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"Actually mine is still in the kitchen, I was going to go look for it."

Poloma snorted.

"You just killed a stupid dream, so that's okay. Too bad, it would have been fun to have a magician in the team."

"Hey!" Erena objected. "I am kind of a magician, since I can make my willingness a reality!"

To prove her point, a green ray shined from the ring of her middle finger, before materializing into a mug.

"Tada!" she exclaimed proudly, then poured tea into the vessel and held it out to Clark.

"Well, thank you!" Then he slightly frowned, a thought coming into his mind. "Huh… Can you promise me it won't disappear while I'm drinking?"

Erena rolled her eyes.

"Ye of little faith. Alright we don't really know each other so let me assure you that, firstly, my will is strong enough to let the mug last, what, a whole day? Secondly, I'm not the kind of brat who likes to do stupid pranks. I may be the youngest of the group but that doesn't stop me from being grateful when someone's nice to me."

Clark's lips stretched into a soft smile. The honesty of the Polynesian was much appreciated.

"So, Superman, how are you?" Poloma gently asked while the man sat next to the two vigilantes. "Are you still feeling dizzy?"

"Not anymore, but thanks for asking, Poloma – can I call you Poloma? And please call me Clark. The bite mark has disappeared and I feel better now."

In order to stop the genetic mutations from hurting people, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batwoman had had the idea to lure them out of the city, while the rest of the team was tasked with gathering and protecting the civilians. A double-edged decision, for the creatures had indeed followed them, leaving the inhabitants alone, but then Clark, Lily and Diana had quickly been overwhelmed by the numerical superiority. When they killed one monster, two took its place. One surprising – and terrifying – thing was that one of them had been able to sink its teeth into Superman's arm, while he believed his skin to be undamageable. Then he had begun to feel dizzy, and it had been more and more difficult to fight.

So Batwoman had asked the Amazon to bring Superman out of the creatures' reach, while she stayed close to them as a bait. She had led them into a rock depression that looked like a canyon, and once Diana had blocked the only way out, the three heroes joined their forces to wipe out every last one of them.

"Batwoman is still examining the corpses of the creatures to find out what could have possibly weakened me."

He had a hypothesis similar to Lily's about this.

"And still no idea of what or who could have created such monstrosities?" Erena asked.

Clark shook his head.

"Batwoman is also comparing the collected DNA to the ones different geneticists had theorised. Which is not an easy task," he added with a sigh.

Poloma decided to speak to prevent an awkward silence to settle.

"So I guess the bat is still working at the computer room. How about the other two?"

"Wonder Woman is giving Batwoman a hand. As for Flash, I brought him back to Australia: he has to resolve a quarrel between several Indigenous people and the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority. The latter has recommended that some company should be allowed to expand its zinc and lead mine, located next to a river somewhere in the Northern area of the country. Yet the mine has been poisoning the river for six years already."

"And I guess the EPA pretends there is no contamination."

Poloma had almost coughed out the sentence, not hiding her spite towards the Australian authority. Her own tribe had also been confronted to this kind of situation, and this multiple times.

"Yes, and the tension is growing. As the spokesperson of the Aborigens, it is Flash's duty to appease his fellows Indigenous and make the government listen to reason."

"Then I wish him good luck, because he's got a long way to go through. But if he ever needs help, I will be ready to come by his side."

"I'm sure he would appreciate your support."

"I fully agree. Now, how about we drink that tea?" Erena asked, desirous to drop the heavy subject when they were supposed to rest.

The other two nodded, and for a comfortable and quiet moment they sipped the drink together. But Poloma couldn't help but dwell on her memories, remembering that it wasn't the first time that powerful industries destroyed the world around them to satisfy an unrestrained desire for profit. She hated that kind of people, that kind of human, and the worst part was that her father was connected to them. Not directly, fortunately: the foundation of his wealth wasn't made of blood. But he, and she by extension, evolved in a world regulated by money, a rotten and corrupted and suffocating world.

A world she had sworn to destroy.

Erena's question stopped her trail of thoughts:

"Clark, how do you know the origin of my name? Are you an onomatology fan?"

"Huh, no, actually I just searched on the Internet."

It took all Poloma willpower not to cackle loudly at Erena's disappointed look, and she almost choked herself in the process. Goodness, the girl looked like a child being told that the Tooth Fairy doesn't exist, but she was clearly exaggerating it. Her expression was just _priceless_.

"And here I hoped I had found a partner in the study of proper names!" she dramatically yet comically exclaimed. "I'm so alone in this life!"

Superman softly chuckled.

"Since you have some knowledge about names, can you tell me what mine means?"

Erena smirked with shining eyes.

"Well that's easy, Clark is the derivation of cleric. It comes from the Latin clericus, which designates the members of the clergy. Hey, maybe your parents wanted you to become a priest?"

"I… don't think so, but I will ask my mother about that. And when you name your child you don't necessarily know the hidden meaning."

"You've got a point. Okay then, Diana comes from the same name as the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon. The name probably derived from an Indo-European root word referring to 'the divine', but deriving from latin it can also mean 'the luminous'."

"It fits well our shiny girl," Poloma grinned.

Clark nodded in agreement. Warm and open-minded and bright were the first words that came into his mind whenever he was thinking of Diana. Even if the tall woman was an immortal warrior used to fighting and killing, her nature never stopped her from being the most human person the man had ever seen. She was always the first one to bring comfort, to worry about anyone who sought help.

He admired her for that.

"That's it," Erena enthusiastically exclaimed, "I'm going to call her 'shiny girl' from now on. It fits her very well."

"Shouldn't you inquire for her opinion before nicknaming her?" Poloma politely pointed.

"Oh come on, you're the one who dubbed her like that in the first place!"

"Wha– it was just a paraphrase! I didn't mean…"

"Well isn't it a synonym of a nickname?" Erena retorted.

Poloma groaned and buried her face into her hands, preferring to give up than to continue this childish quarrel. She expected the Polynesian to taunt her (actually she was about to apologize for bothering her) but another voice rose instead.

"To be honest I wouldn't mind being called like that."

The Choctaw brutally raised her head to meet an onyx stare. The woman of wonder, smiling at the three people, was standing in the sickbay's entrance, next to Batwoman who still had her face covered by her emotionless mask. Erena wondered if she ever took it off when the action was over. Wasn't it uncomfortable to wear her cowl all the time? Maybe she would actually ask when she would feel less spooked by the vigilante.

"Greetings", the Bat politely yet dauntingly said.

 _Speaking of spooky_ , Erena internally shuddered. She still wasn't used to the modified voice. She knew that this was part of the bat's identity: as the monster of the night, the woman had to be frightening in front of her enemies. But with her recent teammates, couldn't she drop the act and in that case, the mask? Maybe she liked to be creepy, who knows.

Then Erena remembered that, during their first meeting all together, Batwoman and Flash had made clear that they didn't want to reveal their identity. Everyone had had the choice to keep their alter ego secret or not. Four of them, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow and Green Lantern, had decided to take the mask off. They all respected the other two's decision about not doing the same. Any vigilantes didn't need, want an explanation from the others for their choice. Everyone wanted to show that they trusted the other's opinion and cared about it by not questioning their action.

An unspoken rule that settled by itself and dissipated tensions typical to first meeting. At least, that was Erena's point of view.

Little did she know that everyone in this room felt the same way.

"How about you, Green Arrow?"

The question coming from Diana snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Wh-what?"

"You weren't listening, were you," Batwoman stated.

There was no blame in her tone, but that didn't stop shame from rising in Erena's gut. She sputtered a "sorry".

"It's fine, Erena," Wonder Woman soothed her with a gentle smile. "I was just asking if you recovered enough or if you needed more rest before debriefing about what happened today."

"Oh hell no, there is no way I'm going to lie down again or else the god of boredom will surely take my soul."

Everyone chuckled at her over dramatic tone.

The three convalescents were headed towards the computer room, and settled in front of a large screen. Diana turned on what looked like a phone, and Flash's face appeared, ready to listen as were the others three.

"We found several things," the Bat began. "First, I analysed the composition of the teeth of the genetic mutations." She turned towards Clark. "Your suspicion was correct: it contains kryptonite."

"What's that?" Poloma asked, confused.

"Some sort of gem from my planet," Superman explained. "To put it simply, any contact with this stone annihilates my powers and weaken me."

Poloma furrowed her brow, not understanding what he meant by "his" planet. Why was he using possessiveness about a common thing ? Then she realized that he was talking about Krypton. One could easily forget that the man didn't come from Earth. After all, he hadn't got tentacles or wings, his skin wasn't of an unusual colour such as green or purple, he clearly didn't look like an 'alien' as humans imagined them.

"Only a few people know about this weakness," Batwoman added.

Erena rose her voice, intrigued.

"But if they wanted to harm Superman, why did they used such beasts? Why not, I don't know, a spear or a missile made of kryptonite instead?"

"Whoever had this idea doesn't want to be known," Batwoman said. "For now they just want to see."

To clear her speech she handed something to the three people. It looked like a tiny drone, broken but sophisticated, the kind that seemed very expensive.

"It was spying on us during our fight out of the city. A camera was registering all our actions. We followed the signal and ended up in a radio station."

"Unfortunately there was nobody left when we got here," Wonder Woman added.

"But you found some clues, right?" Erena anxiously asked.

Batwoman gave a curt nod.

"Only one. I could trace from the computers' activity that someone was monitoring the video signal from the station, then directing it to specific locations. I looked at the different coordinates, and here's what I found."

Several pictures appeared on the screen. Superman immediately tensed when he recognised Lex Luthor's office in satellite view in one of them. He could sense that Erena and Poloma had become uncomfortable too.

Batwoman's gloomy voice didn't help them to relax.

"People were watching, powerful and dangerous people. All of them have a bone to pick with us."

"Such as Luthor," Superman grumbled through gritted teeth.

Why was he not surprised? The man was seriously obsessed with striking him down.

"Yes, but not only. Several viewers were part of transnational firms whose public image and benefices had been messed up by our actions."

"I know gas industries were pissed off when I stole their database in order to stop the expansion of their pipelines, the ones that contaminated the soil of several states," Poloma clicked her tongue in annoyance. She had had no choice to do otherwise because the companies refused to negotiate. She had threatened them she would sell their confidential informations to their competitors if they didn't respect the environment and the inhabitants that were suffering from their foolish greed. "I suppose this is the outcome of my actions"

"Don't be ashamed," Erena exclaimed, "I would have done the same thing! Fishing moguls weren't happy either when I arrested their boats that were fishing in protected areas before handing them to local authorities. They don't care about rules and then accuse me of acting like an outlaw, can you believe that?"

"Some heads of the military from different countries were watching too," Wonder Woman said. "I guess I didn't make a lot of friends when I was acting in warzones."

"Of course you didn't, and that's not a problem!" Erena's voice was harsher. "You saved a lot of people by interfering, and that is the most important."

Diana shot her a grateful smile. If only everyone thought the same way…

"The thing is," Batwoman spoke again, "we have a lot of foes. And they would love to see us erased, not standing anymore in front of them. Then there is someone who knows our weaknesses, who knows we will show up as soon as people are in danger, who has enough resources to craft those monstrosities who destroy everything on their way, and they make sure that those hating us (and don't forget that they have got a lot of money) get a place for the show."

For all the listeners, the pieces began to click into place.

"Those creatures…" Superman said. "They are weapons, aren't they?"

"That is the most valuable hypothesis, yes. And the one controlling them knows they are a threat for us and can make a lot of damages at the same time."

"But," Diana added with a frustrated sigh, "we still don't know who's behind all of this. We have suspects, of course, but no crucial clue that could help us to stop them before they strike again."

"Isn't Poloma the head of a big company too?" Flash spoke for the first time since the beginning of the briefing, voice deep and calm as he looked at the Choctaw from the other side of the screen.

Lily internally slapped herself. Why didn't she think of it sooner!

Green Arrow's jaw was on the floor. She understood what Flash had meant too.

"Is there a way I can contact my secretary, like, right now?" she began to rise but sat down again, without stopping talking. "No forget it, I mean it's the middle of the night I can't do that it will raise suspicions… oh maybe if I check my mails hold on a sec…"

She got up again and headed toward the computer, wincing because of her cracked rib. Clark followed her and offered his shoulder to rest on, which she refused. She quickly began tipping and logged in her mail account. Among several business messages she didn't care about, she found one simply titled "Gattaca". Poloma hesitated.

"If it is what I think it is, should I open it here? Because it's Holly Poloma Queen having a break from work in her beach suite who is supposed to read it, not Green Arrow with a broken rib hiding in the wild."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Erena exclaimed. "I wouldn't mind seeing the sea again. Kind of missed it."

Within a few minutes the three human women were settled in the bat's jet, Clark and Diana flying close. The trip was quick and wordless. Even if he was outside of the plane, Superman could notice Batwoman's hands clenching the joysticks.

He didn't make any comment. Just sighed.

A moment after they landed next to a prestigious villa in front of the sea, surrounded by sand. The five people quickly made their way inside, not giving attention to the quiet landscape.

Peacefulness was not their top priority right now.

When Poloma opened her laptop and clicked on the mail, almost everyone held their breath while reading.

Later, the bowman would not exactly remember the message's content. Maybe because it wasn't worth memorizing its details, maybe because she was too tense to do so, she didn't know. But the offer was still ringing into her head as she finished, the polite words threateningly dancing before her eyes. This person, because Green Arrow and Superman had damaged some factories of Queen Industries (that was an accident, but at least thanks to that no one would suspect her wandering around with a costume), had proposed some entertainment to her.

Entertainment. She just wanted to throw up. This sicko had filmed them fighting the monsters as if it was some sort of act then offered to their enemies the possibility of seeing them being cornered and hurt. Surely some of those people were sadistically smiling while the vigilantes were struggling to survive, and without doubt that was what the one pulling the strings wanted. She remembered the words work in progress. And she immediately knew that it wasn't over, that the attack had been just a foretaste.

They offered to show more, to provoke more strikes against the vigilantes. If they had been able to wound the Man of Steel only with their own resources, then the reader could easily imagine what they could do with a little financial nudge.

If Poloma, and the others recipients were interested, they just had to contact them.

And of course they were anonymous.

A few Choctaw curses flowed from her mouth.

 _Bloody bastard. You sneaky son of a b–_

"Black Mask."

The gloomy voice stopped her train of insults. She twisted her neck in order to see Batwoman tipping on her own laptop.

"What did you say?"

"I say that Black Mask was the one who sent those emails."

She turned her screen toward the others, pointing a signal that was coming from the criminal quarters and spreading all around the country.

"He's the one who tried to sell the android Amazo, isn't he?" Superman bitterly asked, though he didn't need an answer. "Guess the mob boss found another weapon to offer."

During some seconds, everyone were silent. Then Erena parted her lips:

"Alright, we know who's behind it, great. Before going to kick his butt, how about we get some rest?"

The others stared at her with wide eyes, clearly flabbergasted, not by the suggestion, but by the fact that it was Green Lantern who proposed it. She rolled her eyes at their reaction.

"Oh come on, I may have – okay I definitely have – a childish behaviour, but I'm not stupid, guys. Look at us, we are exhausted as hell, that information was truly shocking which doesn't really help, Green Arrow and I are injured and Flash is busy on the other side of the planet (and no offense to you but I can see through the webcam that you've got huge dark circles under your eyes and surely that's not a good sign). If my parents taught me anything important it's that you can't work efficiently when your body is pushed off limits. So I suggest we get a full night of sleep, then tomorrow we think with a cool head of a strategy to kick his butt, how does that sound?"

 _That's it, I adore her_ , Diana thought with delight. She hadn't had the time to properly get to know the Polynesian and the latter had just proved that people were not what they could seem at first impression. The Amazon had seen so many horrors during the last century that she had forgot the ambiguity of mankind, always full of surprises.

Not always dark, not always dark.

The five people agreed to Erena's recommendation. Flash gave her a warm smile before hanging up. The woman asked Poloma if she could sleep here, and when the bowman answered with a kind tone that she didn't mind at all to open the villa to them, Erena exaggeratedly yamned and wished a good night to everyone, before heading to the first room coming into view. Poloma shook her head with a smile at her attitude, then waved at the three left before disappearing from their sight.

"I'm going back to Gotham," Batwoman finally said after a moment.

Diana frowned.

"Wouldn't it be more convenient to sleep here?"

"It's not about rest. I still have patrols to do."

"Wait, what?" Diana was dumbfounded. "Don't be ridiculous, you can't just keep going after an exhausting day like that."

"I have a duty regarding my city, Wonder Woman. I would be indeed a fool if I didn't take care of it."

Diana crossed her arms in front of her chest, still frowning. Then she softly sighed, and let her hands fall at her sides.

"I know. I know you're devoted to saving your home. Sorry if I… Listen, I won't force you to stay. Just… I hope you will get some sleep after your patrol."

Batwoman remained impassive as she left the house. Soon the sound of engines could be heard, and it became more and more distant until it completely faded.

"It's not only that."

Clark's voice took her by surprise.

"What?"

He turned her head toward her, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"If she's leaving, it's not only because of her duty. Yes, she is dedicated to her city, but right now she is going to bury herself in work until body and spirit go numb."

"How do you know that?" Diana asked with a worried voice.

"I've known her for eight years. During all this time, I learned to decipher every twitch of her body, every variation of her voice. She is disappointed with herself, I guess she's blaming herself for not finding out about Poloma's email."

Wonder Woman's mouth was hanging open.

"Alright I _never_ expected the both of you to know each other for that long."

He offered her a tired smile.

"Well if we don't look like friends, it's because we are not. Don't feel bad about it," he added when he saw her biting her lip. "We didn't make any effort to really know each other, except for our heroic persona. I was curious about her point of view about justice, as she was about mine, but being friends? It never crossed our mind. We are too different for that."

He arched an eyebrow, confused, when she glared at him.

"What is that look for?"

"Forgive my language but you guys are oxymorons. And yes that was a pun. But joke aside, opposites don't stop people from growing close. This excuse you're giving me? Pardon me if I think it's very lame."

"Believe me when I say that I tried to be more than the neighbour that says hello from time to time. But she made clear that she didn't want to. And to be honest I am not the kind of guy who loves to make new buddies every single day. I have few friends but they are close to me. But I can't be friends with someone who towers over me, who sees the world with eyes that I admire but cannot follow. I deeply respect Batwoman, and so does she with me. That's enough for us."

Wonder Woman tilted her head to the side. She had never imagined that this was the kind of relationship the two shared. Superman was kind and polite toward everyone, and he was no different with Lily. The woman was distant, that was a part of her personality nobody wasn't aware of. But if Lily was cold, she wasn't haughty. Her own politeness was stern, but when she was speaking to the team her attitude was respectful.

Was it how Clark and Lily interacted when it was only the two of them? Diana couldn't help but feel saddened at the thought that they didn't share a more amiable bond. Especially if they were working together now.

But who was she to judge? She didn't really know them. Like Erena proved earlier, people were more complex than they seemed to be.

She put her hand on Clark's shoulder, gently squeezing it while smiling.

"Sorry if I have been offensive. You have both a point of view that I don't understand yet, but I want to remedy to that. I want to learn more about all of you."

He seemed a little surprised by her declaration, but then his expression brightened.

 _Definitely a shiny girl._

"Then I will look forward to our little talks."

They both said goodnight in unison, and parted, silence filling the house.

Peacefulness finally reached the vigilantes, and they welcomed it with open arms.

* * *

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